As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses continually seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users of information is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary with regard to the kind of information that is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use, including such uses as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems, including computer systems, may be designed to conform to one or more industry specifications for managing power consumption in a computer system. One of those specifications is the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification. The ACPI specification establishes common interfaces and controls for managing power consumption and configuration of a computer system and the devices and components of a computer system. The ACPI specification defines a number of reduced power or sleep states. Depending on the activity of the computer system, the ACPI functionality of the computer system may cause the computer system to enter one of the reduced power or sleep states.
The transition from one of the sleep states to a wake state may require that the computer system reinitiate one or more of the components of the computer system that have been placed in a reduced power state. As an example, when the computer system transitions from an S3 state to a wake state, an unlock command is issued by the BIOS of the computer system with respect to each of the storage drive of the computer system that is password-protected. If the command is repeatedly issued with an incorrect password, whether the password is supplied by a BIOS of the computer system or a user of the computer system, the storage drive will enter a locked state in which it will reject any further security commands until the storage drive is power cycled. Power cycling the storage drive, however, is not supported by the transition from an S3 sleep state to a wake state. Thus, if the storage drives enters a lock state as a result of an excessive number of incorrect password attempts, the computer system will not be able to quickly transition from a sleep state to a wake state. Instead, the computer system will have to be power cycled, thereby reducing or eliminating the advantages associated with being able to quickly and efficiently transition from a sleep state to a wake state.